Toyota/Save Mart 350: 5 Drivers to Watch

Time for wine country. The NASCAR Cup Series is heading back out west for road racing at Sonoma. This trip for the Toyota/Save Mart 350 is the start of a summer of road courses. Over the next ten races, the Cup Series will be competing on four road courses. With a car designed for better road racing, that means the summer should have some exciting racing. The NextGen car did well enough last year. For Sonoma, the most important improvement was the removal of the carousal from the configuration. It provided a better experience overall for the race. This year, the big change for the Cup Series is the lack of a caution at the end of each stage. While COTA wound up being a mess with cautions, Sonoma usually remains quiet with cautions. Could this be a race with no yellows?

Last year, Sonoma saw three surprise drivers battle for the win. Daniel Suarez, Chris Buescher, and Michael McDowell bested the usual road course ringers to finish on the podium. Will Sonoma once again prove to be a race of surprises? Or will the usual suspects return to claim victory in California? Either way, here are the five drivers to watch this Sunday for the Toyota/Save Mart 350.

If you want a statistical insight heading into Sunday, check out Daniel Smith’s notable starts and statistical outlook articles.

Daniel Suarez

After a promising 2022, there were some lofty expectations for Daniel Suarez for 2023. In 2022, Suarez advanced to the Round of 12 in the playoffs, secured his first win, and had a career season. After a hot start in 2023, Suarez has cooled. Since starting the season off with three straight Top-10s, Suarez has only collected two (Talladega and WWT Raceway). Still, Suarez is currently in the final playoff spot by six points over Alex Bowman. Hopefully for Suarez, his Top-10 at WWT Raceway can provide momentum leading into the summer stretch of races.

If Daniel Suarez does have momentum, he timed it up well. Suarez is returning to the home of his lone Cup Series win. Last year, Suarez was able to pull away from Chris Buescher on the last restart and cruise his way to victory. His success on road courses was not limited to Sonoma though. He managed two Top-5s at Road America and Watkins Glenn. Earlier this year, Suarez was lined up to have a Top-10 finish at COTA before the chaos on the final restarts. Suarez is a solid road racer. It would not be surprising to see him in the Top-5 throughout the day on Sunday.

Chris Buescher

Moving over to the driver who finished second last year, Chris Buescher is looking to improve his finishing result by one this time. After the past couple of seasons, Buescher has established himself as one of the best road racers Ford has, if not the best. Since the Charlotte ROVAL in 2021, Buescher has yet to finish outside the Top-10 at a road course. This includes at the Indy GP last year where his car caught fire.

Chris Buescher is currently in the midst of his best season in the Cup Series. Through fifteen races, Buescher has already collected six Top-10s with an average finish of 14.5. If the regular season ended after this coming race, Buescher would easily point his way into the playoffs. All of this success comes before Buescher’s best stretch of races.. As for Sonoma, do not count Buescher out of the mix. If he able to secure track position in qualifying, Buescher could get his second win with RFK Racing.

Chase Elliott

Guess whose back. Back again. Chase is back, tell a friend.

Chase Elliott returns (again) to the Cup Series schedule after missing a race due to his one race suspension. Surprisingly, NASCAR did not plaster social media and the TV airwaves with the announcement of his return. Joking aside, Elliott is returning to a points landscape where he will need to win to make the playoffs. While his road to pointing his way into the playoffs was going to be tough prior to the suspension, now it is essentially impossible.

Luckily for Chase Elliott (and his fans), the Cup Series schedule has four road courses over the next ten races. Despite Elliott failing to win a road course in the NextGen car (or since Road America in 2021), you can never bet against him. Since his last road course win, Elliott has five Top-5s on road courses. If not for a Kyle Larson dive bomb at Watkins Glen, Chase Elliott likely picks up the win there. Now, Elliott has yet to find victory lane at Sonoma. Could he change that this Sunday? Potentially, but he has not had the same speed as Kyle Larson and William Byron since his return. It will be something to watch in the Toyota/Save Mart 350.

Ty Gibbs

Ty Gibbs gets us. It says so on his car.

Quietly enjoying his Rookie of the Year campaign, Ty Gibbs heads into Sonoma on a cold streak. After four straight Top-10s from Atlanta to Bristol Dirt, Gibbs has failed to collect another since. Since Bristol Dirt, Gibbs has an average finish of 22.6. Even with those poor results, Gibbs is still hanging around the cutoff line for the playoffs. Currently, Gibbs sits in eighteenth, only 15 points behind Daniel Suarez. Much like everybody else in this article, the approaching schedule is favorable to Gibbs.

While he only has one Top-10 in the Cup Series on road course (in four starts), that came this year at COTA. Plus, Gibbs is a terrific road racer based on his Xfinity Series career. In twelve starts, Gibbs collected three wins (including his first), seven Top-10s, and an average finish of 11.6. With Gibbs (likely) feeling more comfortable in the NextGen car this year, then it would not be surprising to see Gibbs drive his way into more consistent Top-10s at the road courses. Maybe a win is too much to look for, watch out for Gibbs to run inside the Top-10 for most of the Toyota/Save Mart 350.

Joey Hand

Will Joey Hand be in contention for the win on Sunday? Almost certainly not. Will Joey Hand receive much TV time this weekend? Unless something goes wrong, highly doubtful. However, he is still a driver to watch this weekend. Rick Ware Racing is the reliable team to bring him a road course ringer for at least one of their cars. Last year, Hand made all six road course starts for Rick Ware. This year, Hand will split time for former F1 Champion Jenson Button.

Despite being in subpar equipment, Joey Hand had a solid race at Sonoma last year. He qualified seventeenth and managed to bring the car home with a Top-20 finish. It was the best finish of the season for Hand. This year, Hand will likely run around the Top-20 again. The former Le Mans champion will be one to watch on the ticker. If you are looking for a budget friendly fantasy pick, Hand might be the right move.